What We Used To Be
by The Ninja And The Writer
Summary: Angeal and Genesis have come to Midgar to become SOLDIER.  Who would have thought that it would end so badly? And Sephiroth has a thing or two to say about their dreams. This... is what we used to be.  NON-YAOI!  Pre-Crisis Core all the way to Nibelheim.
1. Chapter 1

**What We Used To Be**

Summary: Before SOILDER and before the madness, there were three young men. The oldest, a 15 year old full of pride and hopes, as well as a want to keep his best friend safe. The middle child was a 14 year old who had never known anything beside the labs and pain, the two who came to him confused him because they said they 'cared about him'. The youngest was a new 14 year old poet who had hair of fire and a personality to match; he had a fierce desire to help the middle child who pushed him away. This is what we used to be.

A/N: I have never seen any fan fiction that explained how these weirdo's became friends anyways. So, in Spanish class I had a eureka moment and drew a comic staring teenager Sephy and Gen-Gen. From there I was all like- this would make a good story. I am far too lazy to post up more than one chapter tonight, though. Back to FF13! ^_^

Oh yeah, If you don't hate Hojo _just_ yet… Let's say you will hate him with a passion I thought only Vinnie could have. *hint hint*

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"WHAT DO YOU MEAN HE IS IN CHARGE OF SOLDIER!" Genesis practically shrieked at Lazard, the 14 year old red head obviously unhappy that the slightly older Sephiroth had been declared the leader of the pack of third classes- of which there were three. Angeal, 15, tried to console his younger friend. Futile in his attempts to do such, Genesis started to stomp off, only stopping to tell Lazard "This is bullshit! I am going to give that guy a piece of my mind! He didn't look at me once while we were training!" With an angered look on his face, Genesis stormed out of the room-you could practically see the flames coming off him- leaving Angeal and Lazard to look at each other.

Lazard sighed. "Angeal… you have to stop him. I don't know Sephiroth personally, but if what I have heard and seen of him… He has had far from a normal childhood. In other words, the guy is not normal."

Angeal didn't say anything, but he _did_ give the slightly older teen a look that distinctly read as _'no shit.'_

Rubbing his temples the blonde began to explain the rumors of the quiet teen to his Banoran friend. "All I really know is that Sephiroth practically grew up in the labs, god knows what Hojo's done to him over the years. It's simple enough to say the guy was raised to be a SOLDIER and is most likely treated as a specimen rather than as a kid. It's simple enough to say that Sephiroth doesn't feel too comfortable around other human beings. It doesn't help he has another appointment tonight with aforementioned scientist."

"That does explain his… odd behavior."

"You need to stop Genesis. If my theory is right, simple things like hugs could be misinterpreted as threats."

"Ri~ght… guy has social issues. Got it." Angeal started to walk away.

"Angeal, hurry. God knows what Hojo'll do to Sephiroth if he is late. I have seen him walk out of the labs looking more or less like he was in a train wreck." Lazard told his friend with unusual seriousness.

'Hmm. Genesis will do far worse if I am not at the dorms when he gets back.' Angeal thought to himself, 'best to wait there.'

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Sephiroth knew he was being followed. He had been trained to use his enhanced senses like that. He used his peripherals to see who it was. The teen wasn't even trying to conceal himself, choosing the more direct approach of following Sephiroth. His pursuer had auburn hair and the look Hojo gave when he had done something wrong. 'Anger' was apparently the name for it. Sephiroth remembered that the teen was the youngest SOLDIER, and his name was 'Genesis.'

"Why are you following me?" He asked calmly, slightly turning his head to acknowledge the other teen's presence.

"Don't give me that crap! Now you listen here, mister! Angeal is the most fitting of all three of us to run SOLDIER, so why are _you_ in charge?" Genesis was yelling at him, shouldn't he be afraid? If people didn't ignore Sephiroth entirely, they were afraid of the silver haired teenager.

"I didn't ask for this." Hojo had told him that "My greatest experiment is the only thing fit for running SOLDIER. Not Hollander's mere failures."

"_Sure _you didn't. And I am a puppy called Zack."

The red head used the same tone that Hojo used when the mad scientist said "Just one more- Hah!" as Sephiroth cried out in pain at the next round of fire being injected into his veins.

Shaking the thought from his head, Sephiroth tried to explain his situation to Genesis. "I have an appointment with Hojo this afternoon… He didn't mention that it would probably take up the rest of the night at this rate. His tone as he said 'appointment' was almost the same one Genesis had used only moments before.

"_Even __BETTER_." Genesis told Sephiroth in the voice Hojo would be using later. After Sephiroth showed up at least 5 minutes late.

Genesis grabbed Sephiroth's arm and proceeded to drag the slightly older teen along. Sephiroth surrendered, knowing that the more he resisted, the longer this would take, and the longer this took… The more pain he was in store for later. He quietly voiced his dark thoughts of what his legal guardian was going to do to him later. "Hojo isn't going to be happy…"

Genesis gave him the look Sephiroth got when he tried to refuse the experiments. "Since when do SOLDIERS care about mad scientists?"

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Angeal could hear two sets of feet coming down the hallway.

"Genesis, where are we going?" Came a deepish voice from beyond his door.

"Seriously dude, you_ really_ don't know?" Came his friend's incredulous reply. Genesis came in with a look of mild disbelief on his face. It didn't match the one on Angeal's face as Sephiroth himself walked in, looking mildly disconcerted at the unfamiliar surroundings, but he quickly pushed the look aside as Genesis continued. "Aren't you like, 15 or something?"

"14." Sephiroth corrected Angeal's friend.

He looked between the red head and the silverette for a moment before dragging off Genesis by his ears.

"Ow. Ow ow. OwowowOWOW!" Genesis didn't like the ear with his earring on it being pulled. The Mako in his bloodstream tried to heal it, and well…. Let's just say it hurt- a lot.

"Genesis. What the heck! He has grown up around Hojo and you expect him to act normally? Hojo is his legal guardian! He has mako injections tonight, which means Hojo has free reign tonight. And if Hojo is really like Hollander said he was… This thing is not ending pretty for Sephiroth here."

"Really… well, it does explain his odd reactions to sarcasm and rage, the guy almost flinches." Genesis looked thoughtful for a minute. Then his face brightened like a light bulb had come on. "If Hojo is his legal guardian, then why don't we try and become friends with the guy? Only if to spite Hojo." Hollander had raised them to hate the man for calling the two failures.

They decided to check on the silver haired teen. Aforementioned teen was looking intrigued at a statue of a Banoran tree.

"He does really need to get to Hojo, though." Angeal reminded his good friend.

"Ri~ght." Genesis went to bring the 14 year old to his guardian. "Well, Sephiroth, It seems that, for once, I am wrong. Forgive Me?" He attempted to sling his arm around Sephiroth's shoulder, only to have him being thrown to the ground. "Why did you try and strangle me?" Sephiroth asked calmly. The teen's face was carefully kept emotionless, but Genesis could see the shadows of confusion in Sephiroth's eyes. "I wasn't trying to strangle you; I was giving you a fucking hug!"

"…Hug?" Sephiroth now looked downright confused as he tried to figure out what that was.

Angeal sighed and grabbed Sephiroth's arm. Dragging the teen toward the labs, he told Sephiroth, "he'll explain later."

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"So, you've decided to come." Hojo's voice echoed throughout the lab, said man scrunched up his nose in 'disgust.' Sephiroth didn't say a word.

"Well?" Sephiroth stood there, cowering slightly at the sound of the man who had made all of his life absolutely miserable.

"Hmph. Come here- _boy_." Once again Sephiroth was being dragged toward the fire Hojo would inject into his veins and watch the results.

~In the labs~

Sephiroth prepared himself for the inevitable fire. He closed his eyes.

-SMACK- There was a slight crunching sound as Hojo hit him in the cheek.

"Keep them open. Take it like a man."

And the first wave of pain came- Sephiroth hardly even flinched.

Hojo smiled at his favorite subject. It was hardly anything like what he had seen that Ilfana woman had given him once. Ilfana's smile was like sitting by a fireplace. Hojo's was like getting your muscles removed one at a time-without anesthesia. Sephiroth knew _that_ from experience.

He held up his act until the sixth wave of pain came hurtling towards him. His screams came in full force as Hojo set the now empty needle down and held up an even larger needle of the blood-fire. "Just one more-Ha-ha!"

After the twelfth wave, as Sephiroth began to see black dots lining his vision, Hojo stopped. _ 'Doesn't want to break me _just_ yet, does he?' _Sephiroth thought darkly. He began to drag himself off to some abandoned corner where he could let unconsciousness take him. But no, Hojo grabbed the youth before he could do anything about it.

'Should have known that I wasn't going to get off with just injections…' He thought. You see, Hojo had a funny way of making sure each visit was more painful than the last. Hojo loved to make bad situations worse. Hojo put the machine on him, and dragged Sephiroth over somewhere in the general direction of the training rooms. Hojo then locked the machine onto Sephiroth's head, and called out a Summon. Sephiroth could only tell because the mako inside him was reacting to the materia.

Hojo then threw the teenager to the ground. Something metal hit his side and fell away. Feeling around, Sephiroth grabbed the object. 'Piece of pipe.' He thought, 'It will have to do.'

He ran towards the collection of lifestream he assumed to be the Summon.

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Genesis couldn't sleep.

"_I was giving you a fucking hug!" _

He really could have dealt with Sephiroth's lack of social interaction better.

Genesis sighed. All of a sudden, a noise came from the hallway. He heard a footstep, a distinct sound of dripping liquids, and then something let out a muffled groan of pain.

"Agh!" Whatever was outside his room had just slipped and fallen. 'Whatever is out there is injured. Badly.' He mused.

The sound of leather against metal. Whatever was outside was dragging itself in order to keep moving. It paused, let out a hitched breath, and he could hear footsteps again.

Moments later, somewhere farther down the hall, it fell with a cry. But it did not get up again.

He sighed again. 'Better see what it is. If it's a monster I'll put it out of its misery. No one else would be up and outside in the frigid air at this ungodly hour.' Genesis sat up, briefly musing on whether or not to but something over his plaid boxers.

He decided against it, and strutted over to his door. He opened it, and his easy confidance disappeared as he noted the bloody footsteps coming from down the hall and leading toward where he had heard the noises coming from. Falling into a more defensive position, he began his slow walk down the cold hallway.

He noticed a bloodstained, pale, bare foot first, it was shaking- probably from the cold. Following the foot was a leg. The person was only in his boxers as well, though his were a pale silver, and covered in blood and soaked…. How'd that happen?

The man's- Teens?- Chest was covered by blood and guts. 'How much of that is his? I don't see many wounds…' Save the 10 inch gash in his chest. There was also a couple of tiny puncture wounds- probably from needles by the way the skin around them was irritated. His hair was a mop of blood and dirt, his appearance was worsened by the…. _Machine_…that was stuck in it. His eyes half closed and eye brows scrunched up in obvious pain. The teen in question- and he _was_ a teen, no man's body was that out of proportion- was sobbing quietly. He didn't seem to notice Genesis' approach.

And although he wasn't acting anywhere _near_ normal, not even by his own standards, the teen was definitely who Genesis thought it was.

"….Sephiroth?"


	2. Chapter 2

What We Used To Be

Alrighty… Chapter 2! Yeah… this one has a couple of disturbing things in it. Sephiroth's mind is a scary, scary place. Have to give Hojo some SERIOUS credit though. If Hojo had wanted Sephiroth to go insane, the best way to do that is to hurt the person in question, give them a brief glimpse of better life, and then rip it all away from them, revealing their entire lives were lies and having no one to turn to saying that it would be all right. Sephiroth's plight was hopeless from the beginning. But right now, he knows it but refuses to acknowledge that anything he does will be for nothing. Nope, he still has some hope locked up SOMEWHERE at the time. Oh, and this will carry through the events of Crisis Core, but not Final Fantasy VII or Advent Children. So, yeah.

In the end, **Seph still goes insane**, so don't get your hopes up for an alternate ending. I honestly think what happened- more or less- was that Sephiroth had his emotional barriers and small hopes ripped to shreds and tossed to the dogs when Genesis- one of his best friends- told him exactly what would hurt him the most. That he wasn't human, rather he was a monster. Then, the powerful, telekinetic Jenova got him in his weakened state, and put them up in a very different way.) Damn. That was one hell of a rant.

Oh well, on with the story.

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At the sound of his name, Sephiroth raised his head to look at Genesis. The silver haired teen's eyes were clouded by mako. _'Shit… Does he have mako poisoning?' _ Genesis thought desperately trying to diagnose the other teen's condition.

"Gene…." Sephiroth managed to say before he let out a terrible racking cough. _'Did whatever that hurt him get his lungs?'_ He thought, his chest tightening at the thought that Sephiroth could _die_. Right here, right now. And Genesis might not be able to do anything about it.

Running over to Sephiroth, it was obvious that he was in a very bad way.

But the sudden movement startled Sephiroth, and he tried to drag himself away from the coming threat, only to pass out from some odd combination of blood loss and exhaustion.

Now, Genesis was strong for a boy his age, 14. But even with his super human strength, he was nowhere near large enough to carry the other teen. Sephiroth was 5 foot 6. Genesis was a foot shorter than him. If not more, of course.

Genesis ran back to his room for a blanket to cover the teen with. It looked like he was wet, and well… President Shinra never paid for heating in the SOLDIER dorms. Never thought he would have to, because SOLDIER's have higher body temperatures than regular humans do.

When he came back, he delicately placed the grey wool blanket on the wounded teen, and ran off to go get Angeal-

In his plaid red boxers.

Fuck.

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Angeal woke up to the sound of his best friend shrieking.

"ANGEAL ANGEAL ANGEAL OPEN UP GODSDAMMIT!"

He sighed and got up from his bed. He was tempted to fall asleep again, but something about Genesis' shrieking was telling him that something was _wrong._ Very, very wrong.

Angeal got up and opened his door to find a panicking Genesis. Instead of calming him down like he should have, he asked sleepily.

"Why the hell are you in boxers?"

Genesis grabbed his arm and began to pull him into the hallway.

"Come on Angeal! I fucking need your help!"

So he allowed himself to be dragged to where ever his friend wished to bring him.

"I-found-Sephiroth-and-he-was-bleeding-to-death-but-I-didn't-know-what-the-hell-to-do-about-itso-I-came-and-grabbed-you-and and and…" Genesis managed to say this all in one go.

"Genesis. Calm. Down." He commanded as he shook his friend.

Taking in a deep breath, Genesis restarted his tale. "I said, I found Sephiroth, and he was hurt badly, and well…"

He stopped in the hallway with his room in it.

Angeal thought for a moment before answering. "If Sephiroth was hurt, than why didn't you get Hojo?" He answered logically.

Genesis walked over to a shivering mass of grey wool which Angeal assumed was Sephiroth.

"Angeal… I think Hojo _did_ this…" Genesis unveiled the blanket, only to show a pale, bloody, weeping body that could only belong to the only other third class SOLDIER Genesis and Angeal knew.

"Oh… My… _Gods_…!" Angeal was shocked as he fully took in the appearance of the younger teen.

Sephiroth's skin was pallid; the blood looked almost fake against it, his normally sharp eyes clouded by mako. Sephiroth's silver hair was dulled by dust and blood and the fact it was soaking wet wasn't helping it. The cut running along his chest was still spewing large amounts of blood. He could count at least nine punctures from the needles filled to the brim with mako. There was a slight depression on her cheek, and a mark from the machine hanging tangled from his hair.

If Angeal was a betting man, then he would have to guess that the machine was for eliminating senses from the poor teen. The fact that the teen was wet from gods knows what and the air in the building was frigid was only hurting the teen additionally.

"Well, don't just stand there! Help me pick him up!" Genesis snapped him out of whatever mental state he had fallen into.

Angeal tentatively walked over and picked Sephiroth up. Aforementioned teen unconsciously snuggled-Snuggled! - Into Angeal's warmth. He guessed that Sephiroth was freezing, if the shivering and chattering of teeth wasn't already a dead giveaway. His skin was still soaking wet- Angeal was really starting to wonder how the _hell _that happened to Sephiroth- and cold to the touch.

"So where are we bringing him?" Angeal asked once the much taller Sephiroth was settled in Angeal's grip.

"My room- It's probably the closest and I don't want to bring him to Hojo." Genesis deadpanned.

"Right." The pair began the trek back to Genesis' room.

"What do you think happened to him, Angeal?" Genesis asked to break the worried silence that was falling over the duo.

Angeal decided to unleash a sarcastic explanation. "I think that Professor Psycho decided to give Sephiroth one hell of a mako injection. Afterwards, I think Hojo made Sephiroth fight something without his basic senses. You know, sight, hearing, smell…. No wonder the guy is so screwed up, when he has such a wonderful example to follow."

"When I found him, the guy was still _walking!_" Genesis exclaimed.

Angeal gave Genesis his 'bullshit' face.

"Alright, alright- _trying_ to walk. It was only when I showed up that he freaked out, and passed out."

"No… Ou…_" _ Sephiroth muttered, his eyes fluttering open. Genesis and Angeal looked at the teen, amazed that he was even breathing, much less that he was still fully conscious if not coherent.

Sephiroth noticed that he was in Angeal's hold, and struggled against it. Of course, he couldn't do much.

"Sephiroth, if you don't stop struggling, than you are going to hurt yourself." Angeal scolded the wounded teen. Eventually, Sephiroth listened, if only because he did not have the energy to keep it up.

His eyes slowly closing, Sephiroth asked, "Goin…. Wher?"

"My room" Genesis answered quickly.

And with the question answered, Sephiroth promptly passed out again.

The silence reinstated itself into the pair's walk. Angeal was okay with that, when his talkative friend decided to end it.

"We need to get that _thing_ out of his hair."

Angeal scoffed at that. "We have more pressing matters, like… I dunno, that cut in his chest? Oh, and of course the fact that he is soaking wet."

"But it has to be painful! It weighs the same as a human head, and it is tangled in his unusually long hair!" Genesis protested.

Of course, before Angeal could voice his disapproval of Genesis' vanity, they arrived at the red haired teen's dorm. Genesis unlocked it for Angeal, he walked in and put Sephiroth down on Genesis' bed while Genesis himself grabbed the first aid supplies that he had in his room.

"I am going to get a needle and some thread for that wound. Bandage the lesser cuts on his arms and legs. Disinfect the gash so it will not get infected." Angeal of course took command of the desperate situation as Genesis began following orders.

Certain that everything in the room was under control, he snuck off into the science department to grab the necessary supplies to sew up the wound.

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Angeal walked back into Genesis' room. At the bedside chair was Genesis himself, but lying on the bed was the matter at hand. Sephiroth, lying on his friend's bed, he lay broken, battered, bleeding, bruised, and of course, unconscious. He was barely holding on to life at this point in time. Angeal had to stitch up the wound or the younger teen would_ die_. That was a lot on Angeal's chest. But- if he didn't start now… then Sephiroth would die anyways.

So Angeal took out his needle and thread and shakily began his work.

As soon as the needle pierced Sephiroth's skin, he was pulled from peaceful slumber to a fitful sleep. The layer of liquid covering the teen's skin had been slowly warming over the last few minutes, but Angeal had thought nothing of it. Now he was having second opinions, because Sephiroth had started mumbling in his sleep. "No… No…. I don't… I don't want… I… Why?... Did you…. leave…. Did you not…. Do you…care?... But…. You…don't…. Exist…."

It occurred to Angeal that Sephiroth was calling out for someone. Perhaps his real father, rather than Hojo? Was Sephiroth hoping that someone existed out there who cared for him?

Sephiroth fell silent for a few moments as Angeal continued to stitch.

Then the situation took a turn for the worse when Sephiroth began to scream. Word formed after a couple of unintelligible screeches of pain.

"I'm… Not…. An experiment!...Am I? … I just… I Can't… I don't have anyone else… You gave me a purpose!" His voice quieted as Sephiroth asked the worst question ever.

"I… I'm human…. Aren't I?...Not like… those _monsters_… you… make me… kill…."

Tears flowed freely from the teen's eyes. "I… just hope…. that girl… and her mother… escaped…. Even if… Even if it meant more pain later!... She didn't… deserve…..my fate…"

Genesis was shocked at what Sephiroth was revealing in his delirium.

Tentatively reaching out a hand to feel Sephiroth's forehead, he wasn't especially surprised to find that the other teen's temperature had gone from ice cold to burning hot. It added salt to the already lemon juice filled wound.

"Hurry up Angeal. He can't keep this up for long."

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Sephiroth was dreaming. His most unpleasant memories were on display, so he supposed that he could coin the term 'Nightmares'.

It began with his 4 year old self finding a picture of his mother. He only knew because the back read 'Jenova and Vincent' There was a third name, but someone had made it illegible. He could tell it began with an 'L', though. His mother had long brown hair that was tied up in a large yellow ribbon. Her eyes were similar to his, though they were not cat like and lacked the mako glow. They had a certain 'kindness' about them, one that no one had ever shown him. Her hair also had his gravity defying bangs.

The other was a man with black hair that partially covered one of his eyes, which were red, and had on a suit common for a Turk uniform.

Oh how his younger self had cherished the photo. After experiments and tests and injections, he could cry his soul out to his mother and he could almost hear a voice that was comforting him. He had even begun to think of this 'Vincent' as his father. It was possible considering how many facial features the two shared now.

But it had ended when Hojo had discovered his prized possession only day. He had snatched it from Sephiroth's tiny grip. He sneered at the child and had told him-

"Love is for the weak. It got Valentine here killed." He had pointed to Vincent.

Vincent Valentine.

Someday, he could adopt a last name.

His brief joy was ended as Hojo had grabbed his long hair and dragged him over to the fire place.

Hojo grinned at Sephiroth's wish to get the picture back, beginning to hand him it, before tossing it into the fire.

Sephiroth crawled over, unable to voice his grief at losing the photo. He watched as the photo was consumed by fire, and as his mother's smiling face disappeared, a single tear rolled down his cheek.

….

The scenery changed. The Sephiroth in his memories was now 5 years old. The first time he had ever been given a weapon to fight with. The katana had been out of balance and as Hojo unleashed monsters and men alike- the men literally being 5 times his age. Of course, he had to keep going until one of the two was dead.

That was the first time he had taken a human life.

He cried a lot that night. He was beaten to a pulp, and a murderer and five years old.

But if all that was true, then why did it feel so wrong to cry?

….

The scenery changed again. Sephiroth was a six year old, and his caretaker had grown tired of him. So of course, Sephiroth was locked inside some abandoned hall closet. All that he had been given was a lantern, a juice box, and a protein bar. Deciding to get some sleep, Sephiroth didn't hear the muffled gunshot coming from the elevator. The first day he was fine, saving power in his lantern, half his protein bar, and the juice box. On the second day, he assumed it was a weekend. Finishing off his Protein bar and drinking most of the juice.

But his caretaker didn't come back the third day. His lantern went out that night. He was hungry and thirsty and now was worried that the man had forgotten about him entirely.

On the fourth day, he was screaming and crying and begging for anyone to hear him. For someone to let him out. It was that night the janitor had decided to listen to the child's pleas.

No one acted like they had noticed the child was missing in the first place.

"No one cares for you, Boy."

Hojo's voice still rung in his head.

….

Years passed. His mind skipped experiments and tests only because of their familiarity.

Then they refocused his thoughts, centering on one girl whom he had met in Hojo's lab.

Sephiroth was thirteen years old now. He was in the labs, as per usual, when a little girl with flouncy brown hair and eyes that radiated kindness walked in, a scientist quickly followed in pursuit.

The girl saw him, and unleashed a smile like no other. It was as if seeing him had made her day perfect. She skipped over to Sephiroth, humming a tuneless song, yet it managed to be pretty.

"Hello! I'm Aerith!" She chirped at him. "What's your name?" Her eyes closed in a smile.

"….." Sephiroth was taken aback by the way she spoke to him.

"Well?" She glanced up curiously.

"I am known as Sephiroth."

"Your name is really pretty but really long! So how old are you Seph-nii-san?" Her Wutaian was off, but he appreciated the effort. And…. Big brother?

"I am thirteen years old."

"I am four! Mommy and I were brought here by the coats, how long have you been here? Where is your Mommy? Hey, how did you get your hair so long and pretty Seph-nii-san? Is it natural? Silver is an interesting color. Do you think my hair could be that pretty and long?"

Aerith's mouth managed to come up with the most mundane questions, but Sephiroth was glad for the companionship.

But three days later, her mother, Ilfana, came to Sephiroth and told him that she needed to get Aerith out of there. Sephiroth was unhappy that he would have to say goodbye to the girl, but agreed to help. Aerith would only end up another him. She shouldn't have to deal with his fate.

He had made a good diversion, causing problems with his sword, Masamune, in the labs. Oh, Hojo was unhappy that he had lost a valuable subject, and Sephiroth had been in a mako induced coma from that visit for about a week.

Hopefully they both got out okay. Aerith would be 5 years old now.

He endured the fire and the pain for a long while, until he thought he heard Aerith's voice calling out to him.

"Seph…."

"Seph-nii-san…."

Wake up

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Sephiroth's eyes opened to find Genesis and Angeal in his face. It had taken a light smack from the former to wake him up.

"Why, good morning sleeping beauty!" Genesis chirped.

Aerith had coined the term 'happy' for how Genesis looked.

So Genesis was 'happy' that Sephiroth had woken up. Interesting.

Angeal let out a long sigh, "Sephiroth, what happened? You nearly died last night."

"….Died?" He questioned before looking down. "Oh." There was a large number of stitches running across his chest. "I have had worse." He shrugged. But he was very confused as to why the people who had yelled at him not a day earlier were helping him.

"No one cares about you, Boy." Hojo's voice echoed in Sephiroth's ears.

"Why did you help me? No one has before." He voiced the last part to himself, though Angeal and Genesis could almost certainly hear him.

"Wa-wa-why?" Genesis spluttered in obvious disbelief. "Sephiroth- You. Were. _Dying!"_

"It has happened before."

Angeal stepped in so that Genesis would not start yelling at the confused teen.

"Can we at least know what the heck happened so that if it happens again, you won't scare us half to death in the middle of the night."

"I'll tell you if you explain why."

Genesis butted into the conversation. "Fine, if you really don't understand that friends don't let friends die in ice cold, abandoned hallways in the middle of the night."

Sephiroth then let surprise run freely across his face.

"We're…. Friends?"

"Yeah Sephiroth- SOLDIER buddies." Genesis told the confused teen.

And for the first time in gods know how long, Sephiroth let hope shine through his cat-like eyes.


	3. Chapter 3

What We Used To Be- Chapter 3

A/N: Like holy cow, guys! I had a whole bunch of visitors, and 2 reviews! This is cause for CELEBRATION!

KAM: You know Ven, you are a psychopath.

Vendetta: And I proudly accept my fate. I was wondering- since this is only going through Crisis Core and not any of the other games in FF7….

KAM: Ven here wants to know if people would be interested in a sequel at some point in time- One based around the ending of Dirge of Cerberus…. Speaking of it... Can I borrow your copy of the game, 'Detta?

Vendetta: NEVA! ISH MINE! Only I can stare at Vincent's a… Never mind….*blushes uncontrollably and nosebleeds from dirty thoughts*

KAM: Hi! I am one of Ven's all too few friends who play final fantasy games. She has me proof reading this, I love Sephiroth! Check out Ninja Ven's profile for more info on me.

Vendetta: And we are on chapter 3! Woo hoo! Please let me know about the whole sequel thingy-ma-bobber, and if I did own this awesome game- there would be a nicer ending for the SOLDER's. Insanity is not a fun way to go. I know this from experience =D

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"Come on, Sephiroth, tell us!" Genesis cried out in his impatience to hear the story of how the SOLDIER third class had been brought down

"If you tell us and there is nothing we can do, we can at least make preparations for you if this happens again." Angeal was trying to use logic in his argument, to some avail.

Sephiroth looked between the two and sighed, not too happy he had to go outside of his regular comfort zone of not saying anything at all, but…. If they were trying to be 'friends' with Sephiroth…. Then he would try, because if he didn't… his chance would go away, and he would be left alone all over again. He didn't want to be alone….. It was just…. Hard for him to say anything. He had never really allowed any sort of feeling to show through, lest Hojo see it….

"Are you trying to tell me you have feelings? Bah. Don't make me laugh- boy. You were made to be the perfect SOLDIER, not a human at all."

But Sephiroth had to try, because they had stayed by him the entire night. He took in a deep breath, and began making himself detached from his emotions. It was often easier that way.

"What happened indeed. I guess if you weren't from around here, the sight of me deeply wounded may have been surprising. It is a common occurrence. As you know- I had an appointment with Hojo, my legal guardian. Angeal dropped me off, I stripped down to my undergarments as he filled the needles with the fire that would pour into my veins."

Sephiroth paused as Angeal questioned his terming.

"You mean mako?"

"Along with whatever else Hojo puts inside it. Mako is nothing in comparison to the concoction that runs in my blood. I closed my eyes in preparation for the oncoming pain. He… punched me in the face… Told me to take it like a man."

Genesis' mouth literally dropped to the ground in horror at the mad scientist's cruelty to his ward.

"He punched you! And you didn't fight back? Even Hollander lets us close our eyes! That stuff fucking hurts!" Genesis' voice cracked halfway through the sentence, Angeal snickered- he would have to hold that against his good friend later.

"So we have established Hojo is a sadistic fuck. Moving on."

Sephiroth made a non-committal sound about the matter, but something deep inside him that demanded the head of his legal guardian on a silver platter liked this terminology- a _lot_.

"He began the routine injections, of course. However… when I received the sixth injection…"

Genesis coughed and snorted as he looked toward the silver haired teen. Angeal choked on some water he was drinking.

"Shit Sephiroth!" It seemed more and more that Genesis was becoming the resident sailor of the group.

"Where is his _fucking_ honor!" …. Only if Angeal's sense of honor toned down a bit.

"…. Is there something odd about my regular dosage these days?" Sephiroth raised an eyebrow in silent confusion.

"Yes- there is. Sephiroth, you only need two and a half ounces of the stuff. How the fuck are you _alive_ let alone _conscious_!"

"…..Interesting development. It is…. Normal I guess. Either way- I began screaming from the pain involved."

"Pfffft! We would have more to worry about if you _didn't _start screaming. That stuff fucking hurts!" Genesis just watched the third class in absolute disbelief.

"…..Then I guess I shouldn't tell you how much he ended up giving me. But to no matter. He placed the machine that blocks out my sight, hearing, and sense of smell onto my head. Hojo then dragged me off to gods-knows-where to fight a summon. I defeat a rather annoying one with a piece of pipe and a second one tried to consume me. I managed to defeat it- and Hojo sent me off to my dorm. The rest has been a haze."

As Sephiroth finished his tale, Genesis and Angeal shared looks of horror.

Genesis started to explain the wrongness of the whole situation to the third class SOLDIER.

"Sephiroth…. No one should ever have to go through that. How long has this been going on?"

Sephiroth looked at the two with pain in his eerie cat-like eyes. "Ever since I was born this kind of thing was a regular occurrence. I remember every visit. This is nothing new. People say that my photographic memory is a blessing for my advancement in SOLDIER. It seems more like a curse, though."

"Where are peoples honor these days? No one has the right to make a human child go through that!" Angeal was outraged.

"Then… Maybe I'm not human… That's what…. they all say…" Sephiroth trailed off, his eyes becoming distant and form crumpling in defeat. His long silver hair covered his face as a few tears ran down in silent frustration and sadness that he didn't even know what he was.

Angeal leaned down and grabbed his…. What could he call Sephiroth now? Friends? Shoulders and shook them lightly. Sephiroth still refused to look at him, so Angeal grabbed his chin and forced it upwards. "You, Sephiroth, are entirely human. A whole bunch more human than the sick bastards who do this to you. I know Hojo is your legal guardian…. But what happened to your parents?"

"I have only seen a picture of my mother. Hojo tells me her name was Jenova, as for my father…. It remains a guess as to who he is…. But with the picture of my mother- there was a man whose facial features remarkably resembled mine. His name was 'Vincent Valentine'. But Vincent was a Turk…. He died protecting my mother, and Jenova died in childbirth as Hojo tells me."

"Could….. Could we see the photo?" Genesis asked tentatively.

"I am sorry….But it was thrown into a fire when I was four years old. According to Hojo…. One must not have worldly possessions in the case someone could use it against you and that the emotion of love is for fools. He found me with the picture…. And suffice to say….. It doesn't exist anymore."

"That's horrible!" Genesis exclaimed, taken aback by the fact that Hojo had gone out of his way to make Sephiroth's life absolutely miserable.

"There is not much I can do- as you have mentioned, he is my legal guardian." Sephiroth calmly told them. "And if my memory is correct, we have our first mission outside Midgar."

"I'll trust your judgment. Hey, I grabbed your uniform." He handed the blue clothing over to the third class.

Sephiroth quickly pulled the pants up. He could put on the shirt later. "I need to grab something from my room. They told us to meet at the hanger. I'll meet back up with you there."

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"HOLY SHIT!" Genesis exclaimed, his mouth dropping to the floor in pure disbelief.

"What? It is only Masamune…" Sephiroth clutched at the katana tighter, looking slightly miffed at Genesis' freak out.

"It's two _fucking_ meters long!"

"Angeal's Buster Sword weighs more than 250 pounds."

"But- this is _different!_ That _thing _is taller than Angeal and I _combined_!"

Sephiroth closed his eyes and sighed, and began to explain. "I have been trained to use a katana since I was much younger." He opened his eyes. "I received _this_ blade." He looked at the sword almost lovingly, and continued. "When I was thirteen years old, as a birthday present- from either Hojo or President Shinra. She has hardly left my side ever since."

"Rapier looks tiny in comparison…." Genesis looked with anger towards the blade.

"I could… Leave her here….. If she makes you….. Uncomfortable." Sephiroth was careful to keep his disappointment out of his face and voice, but his eyes revealed all, betraying him in a sense.

Genesis was still getting used to the socially awkward teen and the fact he could use his sarcasm or joke around, or anything that could be misconceived as something else. "She doesn't make me uncomfortable, I'm jealous. How the _hell _do you use a sword that's longer than your body?"

He never got his answer, because Angeal walked into the room. Doing a double-take on Masamune before scolding his friend. "Genesis, stop pestering the poor kid. If you remember, he almost _died_ last night."

He turned his speech elsewhere. "Sephiroth, Genesis is right on this one. That is one hell of a long sword."

He was about to turn back to Genesis when a certain Turk came into the room.

"Boys," Veld commanded. "You are with me."

He walked past the silver haired third class and thought, _'He looks_ just _like his father.'_

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A/N: Short, I know.

But hey! Chapter three is done! *Does a dance.*

I really wanted to end off with Veld thinking about Vincent and his relationship with Sephiroth. They look faaaar to similar _not_ to have some kind of relationship.

I think that Lucrecia was kinda-sorta-maybe trying to protect the Turk from an early retirement, and of course, the guilt of watching Vincent's father die in front of her in a direct result of her rash behavior.

Although, I kind of like how this one turned out. It seemed sweet to me.

Chapter 4 should be up sometime around next week… I haven't established a set day for this yet.

Ask if you want anything special in the next chapter, cuz Sephiroth gets to go out and see the world! He is already going to get a nickname, which is undecided- tell me if you want something special!- and he is going to experience trouble getting into the helicopter, and is going to see snow for the first time! If you want something else, give me ideas!

Oh, my yaoi fangirl friends think this should be yaoi. This is also undecided. I am impartial to it.


	4. Chapter 4

What We Used to Be

Chapter 4

A/N: Thank you everyone who reviewed, yes, this is my weekly update, but the REAL A/N is at the end of the story this time.

Disclaimer: I has never owned FF7, although, I am currently working on that issue. *Begins to look through records*

Warnings: Sephiroth is going to be extremely weird this chapter, all shall be explained in good time.

KAM shall be in the second one. Not this one.

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Sephiroth, Genesis and Angeal were following the 40ish year old Turk into the helicopter. Angeal had to straighten out the Buster in order to get the extremely wide blade through the tiny entrance. Genesis merely yawned as he stepped inside. What was curious, however, was Sephiroth's reaction to the vehicle he was supposed to enter. He stared wide-eyed, obviously afraid of the idea of having to go inside it. Long silver hair was swept from side to side in a futile attempt to search for an alternate entrance for the copter. Seeing as there was none, he gripped Masamune's hilt tightly and swallowed his fear. He closed his eyes and ran into the helicopter, literally not stopping until he hit something.

That something was Genesis' chest.

Sephiroth yelped at the sudden stop, and grasped on with his right hand onto Genesis' uniform, His left still tightly grasping Masamune. You see, he never really recovered from being locked inside a 3 foot by 3 foot closet for 4 days at such a young age.

"Sephiroth, what's wrong?" Angeal's voice came first.

"Why the hell is your chest in my face?"

Angeal gave Genesis a glare. Looking back towards the terrified teen, he asked gently, "Could you let go, Sephiroth?" The fourteen year old was almost ripping the durable fabric of the uniform in his right hand, almost breaking sheath with the other.

Sephiroth either wouldn't or couldn't let his friend go, so Angeal had to pull him off, using a lot more energy than he had thought necessary, at that. No sooner than Angeal ripping Sephiroth's grip off Genesis, his right hand quickly joined the other on Masamune. "I'm-m…. c-cla-stro-o-ph-pho-bic-c….." He managed to stutter one of his weaknesses.

"Come _on _Sephiroth, SOLDIER's aren't afraid of tight or enclosed spaces!" Genesis scoffed at the teen's insecurity and anxiety.

But then, something_ completely_ unexpected happened. Sephiroth straightened up, and stopped his shaking. He calmly placed Masamune at his side and shut himself off entirely. Finally, Sephiroth closed his eyes and feigned sleep after getting himself settled down.

Angeal and Genesis then exchanged incredulous looks before whispering rapidly.

"What the hell just happened?"

"I don't know!"

"People just don't get over phobias!"

"Then maybe it's not a phobia."

"You do know…." Sephiroth lazily opened one eye. "That I can hear you perfectly fine?" Neither Genesis nor Angeal said a word towards him. Of course. He sighed a long, dejected sigh before saying, "I know when I'm not wanted…" He stood up and pulled his shirt down, because his earlier stunt had caused it to become wrinkled. He left Masamune because it would not fit in the cock pit, where he would sit so Angeal and Genesis could speak without him there as a distraction. Walking away, he almost let out a third sigh because these people who claimed to want to know him better, didn't make a single move to stop him. He shouldn't have let himself get his hopes up.

_Foolish of us to believe otherwise…_

_But…._

_**No buts, little one. **_

_The only ones we can trust are ourselves. That is why we have each other. _

Sephiroth sat down next to Veld, giving a glare towards the Turk so as that he would not interrupt Sephiroth's inner musings. Thankfully, Veld complied with Sephiroth's wish and he was actually able to drift off to sleep.

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Now that Genesis and Angeal were alone, they could speak freely.

Angeal leaned over and smacked his friend with the back of his hand.

"Why didn't you stop him, Genesis?"

"You could have stopped him as well, Angeal- No need to blame it all on me." Genesis deadpanned.

Angeal sighed. Genesis was right, after all.

An uncomfortable silence settled over the two. Genesis once again decided to break it with obvious statements.

"_That _was extremely disconcerting."

Angeal's bullshit face made its second appearance in the span of 12 hours.

"Well, it was!"

Angeal sighed and leaned back, in obvious thought of the whole situation with the only other third class SOLDIER in the world. So Genesis allowed the silence to incase the two of them once more, and he himself began to ponder Sephiroth's sudden change of demeanor.

That's when it hit him.

Genesis quickly sat up once again and began to speak excitedly about his discovery.

"Geal, didn't we learn in health class, that sometimes, due to psychological trauma that occurred as a child, people might end up with one or more mental disorders?"

"Yes…." Although Genesis was correct, they had touched on it once when they were being schooled by Professor Hollander, but he did not know much about it. They had really only focused on PTS syndrome, because they were going to be SOLDIER's one day.

"Well…. I think Hojo would be trauma enough for one person. Could Sephiroth have some kind of mental disorder?"

Angeal opened his mouth to protest, but he shut up and stared at his best friend. Then he actually began to think about it.

"You know, Genesis? That is actually one of the smartest things I have ever heard you say. That actually makes a lot of sense. We'll look into this matter more when we get back."

"Or, ya know, we could, I don't know…. ASK HIM?" Genesis folded his arms.

"Go ahead, my honor won't let me."

Surprisingly, Genesis backed down. "_Fine…._ We'll wait until we have more proof of criminal insanity before we give the guy more of an inferiority complex than the one he is dealing with as of now."

Angeal almost rolled his eyes before he fully realized what Genesis said and froze in place. "Damn. I didn't notice that. How the heck did you notice it?" Angeal was often surprised by how well Genesis could read people.

Genesis rolled his eyes. "I was raised by a duo of rich snobs whose only talent was really figuring out how to manipulate people. They gave me a first class education in this delicate art. Thus, I have a knack at discovering the weaknesses of other people. However, I never fully learned how to _not_ use their weakness against them. _Empathy?_ I have never heard of such a thing!" Genesis said with mock surprise.

Veld's voice called back to the duo. "We will be landing soon, boys, prepare yourselves. I have to land on the mountain slope."

They called back to acknowledge that they had heard him.

"This shall be discussed later." Angeal glared at his friend for being unable to comment on his sarcasm.

Genesis smiled angelically at his good friend.

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Sephiroth woke from a somewhat pleasant nap to find that he was still in that gods-forsaken helicopter that had tormented one of the others so. He narrowed his eyes at Veld, simply because he had been awakened.

"We are here." Veld told him.

To this new information, he got up and went to collect Masamune, the sword he treated like his very child. All the while mentally rolling his eyes at the Turk who had woken him up from his nap.

Walking back out of the cockpit, he noticed that Angeal and Genesis were joking around.

_**Those inferior fools! **_ He burned them through with stares of hatred at their easy friendship.

Genesis seemed to notice him. "Hey Seph!"

Seph?

_Seph? _

_**SEPH! **_They dared to basterdize his name in such horrendous, insolent ways! Those foolish, insignificant, and above all, stupid MORTALS!

His anger roused one of the other two personalities. It appeared to be the more paranoid of the two.

The personality that he was coming to call 'paranoia incarnate' sighed and tried to diffuse the situation before he would have to step in the social spotlight. This one hated any social contact whatsoever.

_Cool it, o great Sadistic One, Little One likes them, and wishes for us to become 'friends' one day. On top of that, they will notice our several 'issues' should you bite their heads off, and I am pretty certain they have already noticed something was up with us. _

_**Meh. You're just paranoid. **_

He received a mental glare from the other personality. _Sadistic little shit…._

_Guys! _He received a call from the Little One. _They are _staring_ at us…._

_Right. Go ahead little guy.___Paranoid one pushed the little one to the front of the mind because obviously he and Paranoia incarnate had a couple of things to discuss.

Little Sephiroth opened his eyes to find Genesis all in his face. "Hello~ Earth to _Sephiroth._"

"Genesis." He acknowledged the red-head before grabbing Masamune and exiting the helicopter, trying to keep his face calm as he rejoiced his freedom from his claustrophobia. That was before he slipped right on something that was a white-ish clear in color, and of course, he fell straight on his butt into a patch of cold, white fluff.

Genesis laughed at Sephiroth falling into the snow, and attempted to jump over the fallen teen.

Sephiroth however had different ideas. He grabbed Genesis' foot and the momentum that the SOLDIER had gained caused Sephiroth to get pulled out of the hole in the snow, and thus the domino effect began. His momentum aided Genesis'… and things just got worse from there.

They created a giant snow ball whilst tumbling down the mountain slope.

Over Genesis' and his own muffled screams, he heard Genesis scream at him. "IF WE DIE- I AM COMING FOR YOU IN THE LIFESTREAM, MORON!"

Of course, the snowball was broken apart by an incoming tree.

Dazed, Sephiroth lay as if he was going to make a snow angel. He just lay there until he heard Angeal chuckle at the scene that had unfolded in front of him.

He looked up to see Angeal's hand reaching out to help him up.

"Nice going, Snowball."

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A/N: So obviously- Sephiroth has Dissociative Identity Disorder, more commonly known as Multiple Personality Syndrome, but Genny and Geal don't know that just yet.

KAM: So, Ven and I are seriously sorry that we hasn't updated before now, but chapter 5 is written and is already in the makings of typing. It should be up by Tuesday-ish. We got caught up in a new novel idea, so we had taken some time off. We are calling it Marionette; it is graphic and dark fiction about the future.

Ven: Reviews are always welcome, and flames about Seph shall be used to toast s'mores.  
BTW: Sequel is in the making, ending for this is planned out, it made KAM and I cry a whole bunch, cuz it ends with Sephiroth's point of view of the Nibelheim issue. Sequel is going to be called 'Here and Now'

Summary of this next fiction: Angeal put his hand on Zack's shoulder. "Even though that is what we used to be, this is the here and now. We have push aside everything, because this is the end of our story."


	5. Chapter 5

What We Used To Be- Chapter 5

A/N: So, joy! I loved everyone who read, favorited, alerted, and reviewed my now 5 chapter story! Did everyone like Sephiroth's new nickname? Cuz I loved 'Snowball.' =D I think that one's a keeper.

KAM: I personally think that the nickname for one of Seph's _other_ personalities was better. The personality in question being the more _insane _Sephiroth. *Gigglesnort*

Ven: You better not spoil that one, KAM. I spent far too much time pondering the best names for each individual piece of the Sephiroth I imagine. We don't _officially _dub him anything special until the Wutai War starts, about two chapters from now if everything goes to plan. There will be a time skip at some point in time. I don't know just when yet…. But- Sephy and the others will all be officially 15 before it begins. Sephiroth just came in and totally pwns at the age of nineteen, and of course, becomes General Awesome of Shinra.

KAM: let's just say there is a very good reason for him being called the 'Silver Demon of Wutai', an extremely good one. And, no, the insane part of Sephiroth is _not _called 'sadistic bastard' though we will refer to him as such now. *giggles*

Ven: lolz, don't ya want to know what it is?

Let's clear this up right now, so you don't get to confused reading the first part of this.

_This is Snowball, the cute innocent personality thinking_

_This is OCD or Paranoia or Paranoid One or Calm One thinking_

_**This is the Sadistic Bastard thinking.**_

KAM: I wrote a great deal of this chapter when Vendetta wound up with serious writers block. Tell me what you think of it! Well, here is Chapter 5 of What We Used to Be!

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Apparently, the trio of third classes were sent on a reconnaissance mission. That meant- it was a total B.S. mission, but it was one that needed to be done. Sephiroth let out a long sigh. _No freaking way…._

Somewhere in the recesses of their mind, Little One was overjoyed at the prospect of names. He sighed again, because he had forgotten that Little One wanted to be known as 'Snowball' now.

The sadistic bastard was chuckling at the calmer personality's obvious annoyance and at how positively cute little one was being. _**Ah, but you forget, obsessive compulsive freak, that we do need better names. You cannot curse your name for me around Little One, and as we all know, you are everything but calm in the face of this potential friendship, and Little One refuses to call you by your real names, Paranoia or OCD. **_He could practically see his smug look. Glaring at the more sadistic of the two, he said out loud, "Touché…" The bastard just shrugged his shoulders and pulled his consciousness back into their mind.

Now, OCD could _clearly_ remember the day that the sadistic bastard was created by Snowball. It was his least favorite day in all time simply because of how the personality acted on a daily basis.

He had been fighting monsters and humans alike in the controlled, monitored battlegrounds in the labs at the age of ten when he began to feel the corners of his mouth go up in a slow smirk. This had surprised him. The only other persona at the time hardly ever smiled, let alone smirk. Neither of them did. So, through simple logic, it was not his mental companion, rather he had a new voice to share their head with in an eternal struggle to keep their own identities.

Sure enough, a voice that wanted to push him aside was a sensual one, almost purring. He sounded completely confidant when he said,

_**Let me finish this…**_

_No way, you little bastard! Back off, it's my time to control. Settle this with the Little One. _He shoved himself back into the metaphorical driver's seat. What he did not expect to occur happened next. He had felt anger, a fury to best Hojo's come out of this new persona. OCD had felt himself get pushed off the controls and could only watch the little shit toy with the remaining humans that they were being forced to fight.

Sadistic had become the perfect word to describe the new personality, since before killing his victims, he tortured and played with them. He had done everything from giving them tattoos with the Masamune, to emasculating them. _Literally. _Sadistic had cut off their manhood's and let them die of blood loss, rather than finishing the job himself. Every single man in the room had shuddered as the castrating occurred. Even Hojo. That was a real shocker.

So, unceremoniously, he had dubbed the new identity 'Sadistic' or 'Bastard' or some odd combination of the two.

His train of thought was broken when Angeal walked over to him and attempted a conversation with him. "So, Snowball." Sephiroth had to resist rolling his eyes. Neither Genesis nor Angeal knew, and hopefully never know the difference between him and the personality Angeal had accidentally named. "Apparently we are being sent to Modeoheim because we received calls of Wutai troops passing through the area."

That confused him. "Why would Wutai troops be in the area?" Angeal just looked at him with an extremely odd look. So Sephiroth had missing something important. It wasn't that big of an issue since he couldn't have a conversation worth a damn anyways.

"Sephiroth, Wutai resisted having a reactor on its land and began a war over 4 years ago. They might be planning on taking control of Modeoheim. That is why we are here, we are seeing if they are building a military base."

"Really?" Sephiroth answered with heavy sarcasm. Angeal opened his mouth to try and continue, but was effectively shot down by the glare Sephiroth gave him. So instead, the oldest SOLDIER simply nodded and walked away.

_Good. He should stay away, because he will only hurt us in the end._ He heard the sadistic fucker chuckle, than he laughed manically. _**You better be careful not to say **_**that **_**around Sephy. He loves those two like the brothers he never had. **_

_Sephy?_ Pushing aside his anger, he questioned the new nickname for the Little One.

_**It is a childish nickname, and I believe it is a better one than 'Snowball.' You know, you are extremely paranoid for a boy who is supposed to be fourteen years old. **_

_It is in my nature. And you are the most sadistic person I have ever met beside Hojo- and you are on about the same level._

_**You dare compare myself to that pathetic mass of walking complexes!**_ The amused air around the Sadistic Bastard was completely destroyed and replaced by one of anger.

OCD sighed. _Calm down, Sadistic._ If he did not get the other personality to calm down soon, then surely Angeal and Genesis would notice his change in demeanor.

Sephy apparently noticed Sadistic's fury. _Hey guys, what's up?_

_Can you _please_ suppress sadistic?_ He all but begged. Thankfully, though he did not receive a response from the Little One, he felt the fury in the youngest personality beginning to drain away as Sephy's attempts proved effective. _Thanks._ He gratefully 'looked' at the Little One before he pulled his attentions back to his 'friends' in reality. OCD merely sighed and continued his never-ending trek to the town called Modeoheim.

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Angeal was more than a little confused at Sephiroth's strange behavior. At first it had seemed like the teen had a very well-developed mask that completely covered a much more vulnerable self. A mask he could have easily dealt with, after all, it had taken Angeal months to get to know Genesis himself, for the red haired teen had a well-constructed mask himself. But as he continued to spend time with the SOLDIER… It was less seeming like a mask and more like Sephiroth was two different people entirely.

He mentally cackled at the idea of the silver haired teen being some kind of way-ward Jekyll and Hyde. But the more he sat with the idea, the more plausible it seemed. Sephiroth talked to himself, and made faces at neither Genesis, Veld, nor Angeal himself.

Was it even possible to have more than one self? Angeal didn't even know anymore. He should have paid more attention to his mother, Gillian, and Professor Hollander when they had gone over a health unit in his home-schooling. It was far too late now, he supposed, because he had joined up with the military and required no further schooling except in battle tactics and strategies.

His inner musings were broken as his heightened senses noticed that Sephiroth had tensed up and stopped entirely. The silver haired head tilted to the side as he listened to the sounds around them, cat-like eyes darting around, searching for something Angeal hadn't noticed. It was then he noticed the quiet rustling of the brush around the group. It appeared that they were being surrounded. Genesis, by that point in time, had also noticed, and had taken the Rapier out of her sheath and was slowly backing up to their group from where the prideful teen had been leading. Masamune was drawn out and was also in Sephiroth's tight grip as the 14 year old third class growled in warning towards the only unenhanced member of their party.

The Turk's eyes widened in surprise, then narrowed as he, too pulled out his weapon of choice; a standard Shinra-issued gun. Veld nodded over to Angeal to silently warn the teen that he should prepare for the doubtlessly up and coming battle. Rather than using his Buster sword, Angeal pulled out his own Shinra-issued sword to combat with.

By now, the attack was no surprise. Wutai troops came out from all directions possible, except from the lower slopes. They had reached a plain like area in the mountain that was almost entirely surrounded by trees, which is how they had managed to sneak up on the SOLDIER's at all. They were probably ordered to capture or kill the four of them, and thus, the battle commenced. Veld immediately began firing off round after round, only pausing to reload his gun. The oncoming troops carried not only guns, though, but samurai-like swords and other bladed weapons, as well. Angeal's eyes lost track of the two other third classes as they rushed into the fight.

By now, Angeal was familiar with Genesis' style of combat; after all, they had been training together since they were around seven years old. They were now more than twice that age. The red haired teenager fought with quick slashes and equally quick blocks, as well as his mastered fire-based materia and quite a few summons. Genesis killed his opponents in a fiery blaze. They didn't even have a chance to react.

Sephiroth's style, however, appeared to be a lot more reserved than his friend's temperamental fighting. He wielded his impossibly long, two meter katana, the Masamune, with obvious ease and a certain gracefulness about it. He shared Genesis' speed, but had Angeal's strength behind it to back him up. Sephiroth battled like some other-worldly creature, almost comparable to a god, but Angeal supposed that that was the point behind all of that sadistic mad scientist, Hojo's, 'training.' Although there was one good thing about the situation. If Sephiroth could handle two, most likely mastered, extremely powerful summons, _after_ getting the mako injection from hell, than he found himself hard-pressed to be worried about the silver-haired warrior. No fucking way some under-trained troops from Wutai going to beat him.

Angeal's own fighting style was less based on speed, and more on his brute strength. Or, at least it was until some dumbass troop tried to shoot at him from the back and ended up hitting the Buster sword. "SON OF A _BITCH!_" Angeal shrieked at the Wutaian trooper that was now trying to flee the battle. He turned around and speedily attacked the surprised troops behind him that tried to kill him the cowardly way. "WHERE…. IS….. YOUR…. FUCKING….. _HONOR!_" He screamed at the troops in between killing blows.

But all too soon for Angeal's liking, the battle was over. Angeal himself was panting, using his regular sword to prop himself up, and Veld was cleaning off his gun, which had run out of ammo and he had been forced to use it to actually hit the oncoming troops. Some of the Wutai forces had escaped, but someone had to be able to tell their higher ups about Shinra's shiny new weapons.

Angeal looked around the now bloody battlefield in search of the other two SOLDIER's that had been fighting. He could easily identify Sephiroth, though the teen was soaked in the blood and covered with the guts of enemy troops, it was physically impossible to miss the katana that Sephiroth had cleaned off and re-sheathed. He could then see the aforementioned teen go digging through a pile of disembodied body parts in search of something. That was when Angeal noticed that he had grabbed an arm and pulled it out of his pile of gore. That arm was attached to… Genesis?

Wait a second. Genesis? His good friend did not end up _under_ bodies and disembodied pieces… Unless… That was when it hit the dark haired SOLDIER, and it all became very clear. Genesis had gotten _hurt_. In total shock at the prospect of such a thing, he could only stand in place and stare as Sephiroth propped Genesis up, checked his vitals, then slung one of Genesis' arms around his shoulders and stood up. Genesis' head rolled forward and feet dragged as Sephiroth dragged the unconscious SOLDIER over to where Veld and Angeal were standing.

"Genesis is not physically injured." Sephiroth yelled over to Angeal with his usual calm, monotonous voice. "He is simply unconscious."

Angeal resisted the urge to growl at the teen that was carrying his best friend. Those words didn't even belong in the same sentence! But, after all, since it was Sephiroth talking, Angeal had to give the guy some room for his seemingly natural awkwardness. Instead, Angeal let out a long sigh and asked him, "What happened over there?"

Sephiroth lay Genesis down against a tree before turning back to Angeal and answering, "The opposing forces attempted to capture him, so they knocked him out with a very powerful sleep materia. I suspect it was mastered, but I have not looked at it closely yet. However, before they could run off with him, I killed them myself." Sephiroth then smiled sheepishly before continuing. "But… I did not get him out from under their remaining bodies until moments ago. Do not tell him about that, preferably."

Angeal sighed once more as he realized that Sephiroth had basically said please, so he would not inform his good friend that he had indeed been covered with dead people. "I have no qualms about that." And he didn't. Genesis would never sleep again if he knew that he had touched a dead body.

Sephiroth bowed his head. "Thank you, Angeal." Turning back towards Genesis, he knelt down and slapped him hard across the face.

"H-hey!" Angeal cried out. He didn't know that much about defensive materia like sleep and barrier, but there was no need for Sephiroth to be so harsh in his methods.

Sephiroth spoke to Angeal without looking back towards him. "In order for a person to wake up from a well-casted sleep spell, one must hurt them in some manner. At least until they develop a resistance to it. I have had this done to me several times in the lab, until they developed a good anesthesia for my needs. Thankfully, by the time I had developed a resistance to the spell, they had made one. It is powerful enough to kill ten chocobos." After another sharp slap to the face, Genesis began to stir.

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Genesis felt like he had been hit by a train, died, and then subsequently revived. His mind was groggy and he found it immensely annoying that he could not remember going to sleep. In fact, his last memories were of being in a battle. A battle….

He shot up from a propped up position, only to find Angeal chuckling at his antics. "Welcome back to the land of the living, Snow White." He grimaced as he recalled being hit by some spell from a materia. It was probably a sleep materia. He then grinned and replied with heavy sarcasm and mock hurt in his voice. "What? I don't get true loves kiss from my sweet and fair silver haired prince?"

Angeal stopped laughing entirely, rather he almost choked at Genesis' joke. Rather, he looked to something that was located directly behind Genesis. The red-head then, of course, turned around to see a bright red Sephiroth staring at Genesis with horror in his green eyes, before backing away and turning to run the rest of the way down the mountainside.

"SEPHIROTH! I WAS FUCKING JOKING AROUND, YOU PRUDE! GET BACK HERE, DAMMIT! YOU WIMP!" Genesis screeched at the older third class before chasing after him.

Angeal and Veld looked at each other and simply began the walk after the racing duo. At this rate, they would be at the mountain base before nightfall.

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Ven: LOLZ, I love Gen-Gen sometimes, I mean, only he could get Sephy to blush like a little school girl whose crush had just been revealed. I mean, that was just priceless.

KAM: I wrote the scene with Angeal, tell me if I was out of character since Vendetta didn't check my work.

Ven: Oh, and by the way, peoplz, I always will accept reviews, they make my day. =D See you next update!


	6. Chapter 6

What We Used To Be- Chapter 6

A/N: *muffled cursing*.

KAM: Ven has been restrained because she was a downright bitch to Gateways diaries, she didn't know that I asked for the help, I am very sorry and I am certain she is as well. She isn't very good at taking critizems; personally, I think she is what you get when you combine Cid and Barrett's personalities.

Ven: *stares at friend with WTF face*

KAM: oh, and BTW, I finally own a copy of Crisis Core! They are so sexy! (Mmmmm. Genesis' voice) Now they won't be so OOC.

Ven: Yea, now she won't leech off my copy.

KAM: ...How?

Ven: I ninja. The shirt proves it. Oh, and 6 chapters! I feel so accomplished! Super extra-long chapter because I did not update sooner. (Bad ninja!)  
Sooo, without further ado...

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When Angeal and Veld finally made it down the mountainside, Angeal found the other two SOLDIER's trying to catch their breath in two separated heaps of sweating limbs on the ground. So this was the aftermath of Genesis' pursuit of Sephiroth. Angeal just stared at the two third classes for a moment, before he burst out laughing at his friend's crazy antics. "Nice one guy's, I am sure you both look extremely threating to any Wutaian troops stationed here." He brushed away a tear before trying to reign in his justified amusement at the whole situation with the two SOLDIER's extreme overreactions towards each other.

Genesis propped himself up on his elbows and shook his head. "I dunno, 'Geal." He pointed a wobbly, if somewhat authoritative finger towards the still panting teen only a short couple feet across from him. "Sephiroth must have looked like a total chicken if he ran away from my completely fake flirting with him." I most certainly looked absolutely fearsome as I jumped him from behind. And I of course must have put fear into their hearts as we tumbled down the rest of the mountain. Genesis gave one of his trademark smirks before falling down onto his back once again. "Oh my gods, Seph, could you have run any faster?" He turned his head to get a better look at what the other teen was doing, only to have his jaw drop at the sight of the teen struggling to stand up. They had run, straight, absolutely no breaks, at full speed, down a mountain with a path ranging seven miles long.

"Most likely..." Sephiroth had already recollected his calm façade, and pulled his shirt down almost obsessively, before reaching down with his left hand to grab Masamune. Then, on rather shaky legs, he began to walk into the town square that had begun to settle down, as night was quickly approaching, and no one wanted to be out when monsters were also out to play.

"Sephiroth!" Genesis screeched at the somehow standing third class SOLDIER. "How!" The red head struggled to his feet and began running after the other teen, only to find that his legs disagreed with that plan, and his knees gave out from under him. His plight only served to reawaken Angeal's laughter, and that really ticked Genesis off. Obviously annoyed, Genesis glared at his dark haired friend, before giving in with a rather exaggerated sigh. "Help me up, Angeal. I need to conserve my energy so I can kick his silver haired ass later." Of course, his good friend willingly reached out a hand to help the tired SOLDIER up, but before Genesis could take it, was a dark chuckle unlike anyone else's. Angeal and Veld had light hearted ones. Genesis' own laugh was a bit loftier than this almost evil sounding one. Angeal and Genesis looked over to the only other possible person…. They jinxed each other with an almost identically horrified, "No…." As they were thoroughly disturbed at the thought of the most…. Serious, for lack of a better word, of the three teens.

Sure enough, Sephiroth had a slightly amused, but also slightly evil-looking smirk dancing across his normally impassive features, his eyes were shut as if he were imagining something, but a moment or two later, they opened, revealing his alien-like pupils and mako green iris'. He then… _taunted _Genesis by goading him on. "Hmph. You're welcome to try." His already deep voice had lowered to a purr. Turning back to the village as his rather supernatural hair blew softly in the wind, an orange and red sunset coloring his outline perfectly. He began his walk not bothering to place Masamune on his back, opting to carry her in his sword hand backwards. He stopped mid-step to ponder out loud. "Hmmmm….. Déjà vu..." He lightly shrugged his bare shoulders before continuing his solemn walk to his destination. (A/N: OMG- Nibelheim!)

Genesis and Angeal did _several_ double-takes before engaging in a rapidly whispered conversation.

"Did you see that or am I hallucinating?" Angeal was still surprised that the obviously emotionally challenged teen had been able to express his amusement so easily.

"I have never seen him _smile _let alone _laugh_. And what- we met him officially 3 months ago?"

Angeal shook his head rather sadly. "We met, but we didn't really talk that much to him until you got angry with him for being placed as superior to yourself." Well… that wasn't exactly why Genesis had gone after Sephiroth, but he sure as hell wasn't going to correct his friend on _that_ one. "Maybe he trusts us a bit more now?" Angeal looked mildly hopeful that the situation could be dropped. As _IF!_

"Than what on Gaia happened when he stared to laugh! Smiling I could understand, but back when he chuckled, he sounded as if he was contemplating how he would kill us and imagining ways to cook our remains so he could devour us!" Genesis shivered at the mental images he had conjured up, and it appeared that Angeal shared his feeling on the subject.

Sephiroth turned back, having heard the last bit of their conversation, and called out in all seriousness, "Don't tempt me."

Angeal just stared at the silver haired mystery until he had walked out of even his own enhanced earshot, and then he turned back to Genesis. "Mind hearing a crazy theory?" Genesis shook his head as if he were to say, no- he didn't mind. Angeal acknowledged his friend's approval with a slight dip of his head before continuing. "When we first started in getting to know him, I believed that he had just developed an extremely good mask to cover his true disposition, kind of like when I first met you."

Genesis nodded, but he did it sadly. He had been such a bad friend back then; he pushed Angeal away, and then realized that he couldn't bear to be without the only person who had treated him like a normal human being. Not like he was a trophy as when he was with his mother, or as a burden when he was with his father, or when he was poked at like some _experiment_ as with Professor Hollander. It was understandable that Angeal would see some of Genesis' many problems in the silver haired teen. Angeal looked very concerned at his friend's sudden mood change, but let it slide for now. "But, as I have spent more time around him…" He shot a look at the teen that was currently leaning against a wall with a musing expression. "It is becoming less and less like a mask and more like…. More like he has more than one person in his mind..."

Genesis than looked thoughtful as the idea of Sephiroth being criminally insane settled in his mind. "It does seem plausible- Multiple personalities, that is- I'll have look into it when we get back into headquarters, I suppose."

Veld apparently had caught that last bit of the conversation between Angeal and Genesis, and chose that moment of silence to join in. "What was that, kids? I mean, about multiple personalities?" Angeal wanted to face palm. And he did- mentally of course. Why did Veld have to say something _now,_ because Genesis was going to...

Genesis instantly regained his more professional face and smoothly lied to the Turk. "Oh, I suppose it's nothing, I simply noticed something intriguing in Hollander's lab the last time I had injections. I was inquiring my good friend so as to find out whether or not he knows anything on the subject. Sadly, he is not as worldly as you or myself, and does not know much on the matter. Alas, _my friend, the fates are cruel…." _He then faked a sudden jolting realization and asked politely, "Could you explain it to me?" He gave a somewhat hopeful look at the Turk.

Veld nodded, not realizing he was being played by Genesis, and he gave him a well-explained answer. "The proper name for it is Dissociative Identity Disorder, DID, for easier terms, but it more commonly known as Multiple Personality Syndrome, or MPS. DID is normally caused by some trauma in a person's life, as it is the mind's attempt to cope, and will make itself known to others surrounding the victim around the late teens or young adulthood. Some common issues with the disorder include, but are not necessarily limited to, blackouts in memory, an inability to stick with a single choice, and sudden, distinct, often scary changes in personality." Veld looked toward Genesis, who still wanted Veld to continue, before revealing his last bit of information. "We had to deal with someone after they returned from a Wutai infiltration mission. Everyone in his squad had been killed, and when he was about to be captured by the enemy, he tried to hide in the carcass of one of his fallen comrades. If I do remember, it was his best friend's body. We didn't get all the details, but apparently he 'woke up' surrounded by the bodies of everyone else in the base. Both Wutaian troops and our own. He had single-handedly killed everyone. Or, in a better description, his 'other half' did the work for him. He was 15 at the time. In a therapy session, he said that he couldn't talk to it per-say, rather he could see him, or feel whatever the other feels. Currently, he is locked up in an insane asylum, because whenever the other personality gains control…. Everyone around him will be killed. They call him… Flippy." (A/N: Ha hah ha hah! Anyone who gets _this _reference…. Just XD)

Genesis let out a satisfied hum, and Veld then walked off once again. He really needed to talk to the council before they could do much to help. And with the Turk once more out of earshot, Genesis let his mask fade away, and he let out a pained sigh. "More of this confusing shit later. I am way too tired tonight."

"And what exactly is so confusing, Genesis?" Sephiroth piped up from his relaxed position against the wall. Genesis had migrated closer to him, it seemed, in an attempt to get farther away from Veld. Thankfully, Genesis had taken some notice of the unconscious movement and didn't jump when he heard Sephiroth's voice pierce the quiet of the evening.

"It's nothing, Sephy." Genesis gave a small, but genuine, smile at the dozing teen. (How the hell he could doze off upright, Genesis would probably never know) There was a small noise that escaped the slightly older teen's mouth, and moments later, Genesis had placed it as a yawn. In order to beat the teen at something, Genesis' yawn was exponentially louder and longer than Sephiroth's. "I agree completely, Seph. We either have been dying, or not sleeping trying to prevent the death."

Genesis almost didn't catch to muffled complaints Sephiroth was mumbling about. However, among the thing he _did_ catch, were "Annoying mass of walking complexes," and "Not exactly my fault." Both Sephiroth's and his own ponderings were ended when Veld decided to butt in on the conversation once again.

"You three are going to stay in the inn for tonight. I have things to do before we leave tomorrow." Veld calmly told them. Angeal let out a grunt of approval before scurrying over to what Genesis assumed to be the inn. He smirked as he realized that Angeal was most likely the more exhausted of the trio of third classes.

"Come on, you two." Genesis' grin widened as he realized that his theory was completely correct, because the annoyance in Angeal's voice was unmistakably from him being tired. Angeal would never sound annoyed otherwise. He had too much pride in his stoicism to ever dream of revealing his worse emotions. So, with a rather sleepy looking Sephiroth in tow, Genesis made his way over to the inn, where perhaps, with luck, he might actually be able to get some sleep that night.

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No such luck, apparently. Genesis woke up in a cold sweat, with a large intake of stale air as he desperately tried to slow his breathing and heart rate down. His mind's eye was plagued with images of a dead Angeal, himself with grey, cracked skin, and the worst of all; Sephiroth, with his body surrounded by fire and the screams of people who he heard, but didn't do anything to help them. Instead, he had turned with a smile akin to the one he wore today to Genesis' dream self, and whispered to the red haired teen-"This is your entire fault, Genesis," before letting the flames surrounding him engulf him, leaving nothing but the ashes behind.

He shook his head, trying to get rid of the terrible premonition. _No! I would never ever do such a thing! I wouldn't even allow that to happen! Angeal has too much honor to kill himself, for one. _With his mind set on that, he eventually managed to calm down long enough to think straight once again, and so once again, thoughts of disaster slipped to the very back of his mind. He got out of bed and looked around the room that had long since lost its warmth, as the fire had died not long after the trio had fallen asleep. He looked over to his roommates. Angeal was snoring, as he always did, with one arm thrown haphazardly across his face, but was otherwise sleeping peacefully.

Angeal always was there for him. He was there when he cried, laughed, got angry, but never left Genesis. That meant more to Genesis than just about… Anything, actually, that Angeal could be so strong while Genesis' life fell in pieces around him. And though his best friend slept like the dead, he was still very much alive, and that alone was good enough for Genesis. He let out a long sigh of relief. His friends driving force was his families pride and his own dreams. So long as they had that, Genesis was sure his best friend would never commit suicide.

As his fear for the life of one teen was settled, Genesis looked over to where the silver haired mystery was _supposed _to be sleeping, only to find an empty bed. After noticing Sephiroth's disappearance, he also looked to where they had placed the Buster, Rapier, and Masamune, to find that the letter of the three was also missing. What had caused this sudden disappearance at such an ungodly hour of the night? Genesis could only guess. Sephiroth really enjoyed sending him on these late-night missions, didn't he? He pulled on his baggy third class pants, as his shirt was already on, and he wondered if there was anything else he should take with him. He shivered. That last part of the nightmare with the silver haired teen throwing himself into damnation was to realistic for Genesis' liking. Worse than that, it was apparently Genesis' fault. He mentally steeled himself so that he would have the resolve to stop the teen should it happen. And so, he grabbed his Rapier.

Just if the nightmare were to become reality.

He walked carefully out into the world, black in night, as the moon itself failing in its duty to light the world. Not that he needed it, the mako glow in his eyes that represented his status as SOLDIER gave him enhanced vision, as well as other senses. It also was the reason as to why they fight so well. The only noise to be heard was the sound of his soft footsteps and his own shallow breaths that was getting steadily faster with apprehension as he made his way over to the bath house, the most logical place where the silver haired mystery was as of now. As he neared the place, he thought he heard something. Tuning out his own fears, he let out a breath he hadn't realized he had been holding.

He looked through a partially opened window, and sure enough, Sephiroth was not laying ravage to the town of Modeoheim, rather he was going through the soft, somewhat forced movement of a series of kata's. It still didn't explain as to why the teen was out here in the middle of the night, but he could rest easy knowing that his friend wasn't a sociopath as of yet.

Genesis shook his head at the irony of the situation, Sephiroth, overly defensive Sephiroth, practicing in possible enemy territory, of all places, and he was about to go inside, when Genesis heard a rustle different to the ones coming from the teen. He surveyed the room, not seeing anything, and turned his attention back to the teen, had Sephiroth not noticed? Genesis gasped with the sudden realization, it wasn't that Sephiroth didn't hear the noises, but it was that the teen was entirely focused on his movements. He once again looked around the room, and was surprised to see a slight glow- Materia!

Sephiroth's eyes rolled into the back of his head and his perfect form clattered to the ground. Genesis was held frozen by the fear that someone had managed to take down the stoic teen. He didn't move a muscle as men dressed in the by now all too familiar outfit worn by the troops of Wutai came in and surrounded his unconscious friend. One of them pulled out what Genesis assumed to be a needle and injected it in the side of Sephiroth's exposed neck. Genesis could only hear snippets of their whispered conversations, but what he could hear were things like- "We got the best…." "Our Intel said that this drug…" "Lord Godo will be pleased…" "If he will fight with us…"

That last part of the partially understood conversation was enough to snap Genesis out of his childish fears. He had let Sephiroth into his little circle of friends, making two, three. No way in hell was Genesis going to let them take the emotionally challenged teen from himself and Angeal!

With that resolve in mind, he let Rapier slide into his hands, and walked the short distance to the door. He kicked it open with a foot, and he must have looked incredibly eerie as he activated the fire materia in the sword's hilt. He was glowing orange with the power, and his mako blue eyes were the complete opposite of that. His hair was floating around him, making him appear quite… Otherworldly, god-like even. He stormed into the place and well….

Hell hath no fury like Genesis angry.

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Genesis didn't even realize that the fight was over until he managed to find himself surrounded by bodies that were burned, mutilated, _castrated?, _and now disappearing into the lifestream. Not wanting to see all of the carnage he had ravaged on the opposing army, Genesis walked over to where Sephiroth was currently sleeping peacefully, blissfully unaware that he was completely surrounded by dead people. Genesis really wished he had a camera, but even though his mind was set on the fact that this was really good black mail material, he managed to stifle his laughter. Now was really not the time for that. He had to help the teen, black mail later. Sephiroth was cuddling with the now somehow sheathed Masamune. It was, in one word- Adorable. He never thought he might be able to associate that word with the stoic teen. He bent over and shook Sephiroth's shoulder once, twice, and it was on the third try that Genesis received a low groan from Sephiroth. "Seph, you okay?" He questioned softly. Green eyes slowly, painfully, opened to reveal that some kind of drug induced fog covered the usual sharpness of Sephiroth's gaze.

A dopey looking smile appeared on the third classes face. "Genny found us!" His deep voice was severely slurred, and Genesis came to the realization that he knew the answer to a question he had never thought of. Sephiroth would be a happy drunk. Whatever they had drugged him up with had caused him to act extremely out of character. "How did Genny find us?" If Genesis wasn't completely confused as to why his friend was referring to himself as an 'us', He would either be extremely angered at the teen or laughing at the complete hilarity of his nickname for Genesis.

He settled for shocked silence and helped the teen stand up, wrapping an arm around a shoulder for both support and warmth. If this drug indeed acted like alcohol, than Sephiroth would lose body heat rapidly. Not to mention Genesis was pretty chilled himself. He thanked the goddess that Sephiroth could still hold himself up somewhat, even if he was swaying slightly. Genesis would not have been able to help if the much larger teen did not have some semblance of balance. He almost began to walk out of the destroyed building, but then he noticed that the Masamune lay forgotten on the floor. Genesis let out a string of curses. "We'll get her later."

Sephiroth also seemed to notice that his beloved sword was still on the ground, as he stopped in his tracks. "No. She's coming." Genesis sighed. He couldn't carry that monster of a sword, he had to carry his Rapier and help the seemingly drunken Sephiroth. Aforementioned teen also was currently lacking the coordination to carry his beloved blade.

He tried to reason with him. "Seph, I-"

"No."

Frustrated with the teen for not listening to Genesis' sound logic, as well as being already slightly angered with him for being out here in the first place, Genesis resorted to acting downright childish, and threw the teen to the ground, throwing daggers at him with his eyes. He picked the blade up and harshly told Sephiroth, "Fine then. I'll take her back. You can get yourself back." He left the building, making a bee-line towards the inn no sooner then was he outside, leaving a confused Sephiroth behind in his dust. He could take care of himself just fine, after all, he had done so for the fourteen years before Genesis and Angeal had met him. Sephiroth would be just fine.

Wouldn't he?

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Angeal woke to a pacing Genesis. Pacing Genesis was never a good thing. It usually meant that he had screwed up in some way, wanted to speak to Angeal about it, but either didn't want to disturb him, or didn't know how to phrase the question so that he didn't sound weak. Angeal let out a long sigh, and then cleared his throat so as to alert his friend to his new state of being awake.

Genesis turned over to face Angeal, and his hands dropped from where they had been held to his chest. They just stared at each other for a while, but Angeal knew better than to say anything before Genesis came to him. It would shut him down almost automatically. Genesis had to be in control of the situation, otherwise he would think that he was helpless, so he would mask the emotion with confidence that wasn't really there. And that really only just hurts him more later on.

Angeal was caught unguarded in his musings as he felt something barrel straight into his chest and begin sobbing. He just let Genesis cry there for a little while, before trying to figure out the source of the problem. It could be something from last night in his friend's nightmares, or it could be from last week. Genesis had this unhealthy habit of letting his emotions pile up on him, until they burst out in the worst kinds of breakdowns. He could lash out at you in anger; the worst example was when Genesis had come to Angeal's home with a black eye, several bruises, and a limp, and had screamed at Angeal that it was all his fault, he had a mom who loved him, and Genesis had parents like his dad that did horrible things to him, and that he had a mom who let it happen- Genesis had also screamed something about rape, but they had never gone back to the subject of his parents ever again, Genesis had just begun living with Angeal more than his own family. Angeal couldn't blame Genesis for it, either. Or it could be something like this, where he began a hopeless breakdown of tears.

That was, of course, when Angeal realized they were down one teenager. Angeal quietly asked his friend about it. "Gen, where is Seph?" When Genesis let out a new wave of tears, he knew that he had stumbled on the problem.

"I-I'm-m… Su-Such a… B-Bad… Horrible! F-Friend!"

"Shhhhh. It's alright." And Angeal let his friend cry for a little as they rocked back and forth while he rubbed his hands soothingly on Genesis' back.

No matter what had happened to Seph, his best friend had to come first.

Always.

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Sephiroth woke up with on _hell_ of a headache. _So this is what it is like to have a hangover_. He mused, not entirely aware of his current state. _I hope that I will never have to deal with this again._ He managed to pull himself upright, holding himself up with his elbows digging into the earth. He was still in the bath house, it was early, maybe five o' clock, and the last thing he remembered clearly was practicing his kata's in the middle of the night. Beyond that… a warm, fuzzy, but not precisely unwanted, haze. That disturbed him the most, since his memory was precise, the tragic result of all of Hojo's manipulations and experiments since his childhood.

_I was… Training with Masamune… Where is she, anyways? And then… did I pass out?_ He poked at his mental companions, extracting a groan from Sadistic, and getting pushed away by Sephy.

Not having much luck with the others, he tried to stand up, only to find that his stomach most certainly did not agree with this plan. He almost vomited, instead, he dry-heaved for a couple seconds, refusing to lose last night's dinner in such a lowly way. "Okay. No standing up." He lowered himself back down to the cold floor, and briefly wondered on how the heck he was going to do now.

"Seph! Sephiroth!"

Ah. That answered one question. "Angeal?" He weakly croaked out. "Is that you?" Damn his weakness and general state of helplessness. Even if the person the voice belonged to wasn't Angeal, Sephiroth doubted that he would have been able to do anything about it.

"Yeah." Angeal's face came into his field of vision, and asked, "Hey, you okay?" A hand was held out to help him up. Sephiroth was grateful for it, though it didn't show on his blank face, and he took it. Angeal and he began to walk back when he mumbled his answer to the question.

"Depends on your definition…" Physically, he would be fine. He just had to work this off and he would once again be in his top condition. But mentally? He doubted that his odd mental condition would ever be fully cured. After all, only Hojo knew of it, and Hojo didn't give a rat's ass about Sephiroth's mind, so long as he was coherent and fully functional.

"What was that?" Angeal shot a 'concerned' look at Sephiroth.

Sephiroth gave a small shake of his head, which did not sit all too well with his stomach, but it was necessary to quiet his friend's doubts as quickly as possible. "It's nothing."

Angeal looked…. Almost… 'Guilty?' _He has no reason to feel such a way. He has done absolutely nothing wrong._ He heard the most sadistic personality groan.

_**Are you really that unknowledgeable in human mannerisms, OCD?**_

_Apparently so. What is it exactly that I am missing here? What is your thinking on this, Sadistic?_

_**Well, I never thought I'd see the day you would ask me to help you. **_Somewhere in his mind, he quietly agreed at the odd way he had indeed gone to Sadistic, his mortal, mental, and eternal enemy, for help.

_**Perhaps they know, or at least noticed our odd behavior, but have not prompted us because they do not wish to acknowledge that we have our own issues to deal with. Rather, they wish to keep their pristine mental image of us in their pathetic minds intact. **_He heard Sadistic laugh. _**Or they could be waiting to have more evidence of our insanity before coming at us with suggestions of mental therapy. **_

He growled at the persona. _I hate it when your rational._ The only reply he got was a dark chuckle.

After that, the duo walked in complete silence, both inside and outside Sephiroth's disturbed mind. No sooner was the silver haired teen inside the door to their room, a red haired mass caught Sephiroth in a wayward 'hug', as the aforementioned mass itself had once termed it.

Crystal blue eyes that were lined and gleaming with tears looked up to meet his own steady gaze, and Genesis said to Sephiroth, "I'm so sorry, Seph! I didn't mean it! I am such a complete and total asshole sometimes! Will you forgive me?" The confused teen looked to Angeal for help, and he responded in turn by giving Sephiroth a sharp nod of approval.

"It's… Alright… Genesis…" Sephiroth had never gotten comfort before, let alone giving it. Green eyes flashed back toward grey for reassurance and support, and Angeal mouthed the words, 'I forgive you' at the confused teen. And so, to a crying Genesis, Sephiroth gave someone comfort for the first time in his life. "I…. Forgive…. You?" It ended up sounding more like a question than the statement it was, but it had an effect on Genesis nonetheless. Light blue eyes looked up at Sephiroth hopefully.

"Re-Really?" Sephiroth almost smiled, but settled for having his sound slightly happier than usual.

"Yes, really."

W-H-A-T-W-E-U-S-E-D-T-O-B-E

A/N: HOLY IFRIT! KAM HAS HER OWN ACCOUNT!

KAM: Meh.

Ven: Okaysies, so, we all have noticed that I managed to not only update, but also put up 2 new stories, whichever one I will update first depends on which I feel like writing more of, or I will put up a poll.

Daughter of the Crossfire VS What a Mess! VS What We Used To Be

Take your pick, PM me about any questions concerning anything.

AND, here is how to navigate around the error type 2 screen we all have been getting.

IF YOU WANT TO UPDATE:

Click on your story. When you get the error screen, replace PROPERTY with CONTENT. You should be ok from there.

IF YOU WANT TO POST A NEW STORY:

Post it under a different fandom. One less popular. Then, once it is up, change the category to its proper one. Make sure any changes to property are done before the switch, as you will not be able to change it until they fix the issue.

REVIEW!


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